


Resonance

by mahariyuware



Category: Promare (2019), Soul Eater
Genre: (he adopted), Crossover, Gen, Gueira is a father...how did that happen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Meis is a badass, Minor Violence, as expected, idk what else to say bro, issa promare/soul eater au, lio and galo are pining on the side, mild body horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 07:27:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24939808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mahariyuware/pseuds/mahariyuware
Summary: “You okay, Lio?” Galo tries to catch his breath, his eyebrows pulled together in concern.Blood is still dripping and Lio’s reflection in the blade looks worse for wear. “Don’t worry about that. I’m prepared to die for my meister!”--Lio Fotia and Galo Thymos are a powerful weapon/meister pair at Promepolis Academy who love each other way too much.
Relationships: Gueira/Meis (Promare), Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 8
Kudos: 78





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! This is only my second fic ever, so I'm still getting used to this! This is basically a fic with Promare characters set in the Soul Eater universe. I got this idea when @mirrorkirby was yelling on Twitter about a Promare/Soul Eater AU, so I had to make it happen. They also beta'd this fic for me, and did an amazing job!! Check them out on AO3 too, they're writing an amazing Promare fic. 
> 
> Also, I made designs for Lio and Galo for this AU! If you want to check them out. https://twitter.com/mahariiyuware/status/1275951447717404683?s=20 
> 
> Anyways, I think that's about it! I hope you enjoy the fic, and kudos/comments would be highly appreciated <3

Church bells resound through Rome, Italy. The sky is a dark, foreboding purple, the crescent moon in its usual state, grinning widely, pupils small, blood dripping from its teeth. This is nothing out of the ordinary. 

Illuminated by its glow, a pink-headed witch sporting round glasses and freckles sits on her broomstick, looking down upon the vast city. She wears a hooded jumpsuit and has snake tattoos crawling up her arms. 

_“Go on, eat. Lots… and lots… Eat lots to become the ultimate evil,”_ she hisses.

In a dark alley below, a girl winces. Something horrifying forms out of her back, and she screams. 

The witch’s plan is coming together.

\-- 

Galo revs his engine as his motorcycle whizzes through the streets of Rome, bustling with street vendors and customers eyeing fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats. His weapon, Lio, has his arms wrapped around his bare midsection, trying to ignore how good it feels to grip his meister’s abs. Galo wears a trenchcoat with no shirt underneath, an interesting fashion combination, if nothing else. The wind whips through his fluffy hair, making it even messier than it was before.

“Italy is so cool!” Galo says. “Oi, Lio, are you getting hungry? We should get some pizza! This is Italy, after all!” His eyes twinkle and his mouth waters at the thought of having his favorite food, authentically. He eats pizza like every other day, but real, _Italian_ pizza? He’s never had that before!

In response, Lio pinches his neck, which is met with an _“Ow!”_

“Galo, we have to focus on our extracurricular lesson, we’re not here to vacation.”

“That hurt,” Galo whines. “And I know that. Our target this time is killer Sonson J, right?”

“Just as long as you know,” Lio sighs. He leans forward and rests his head on Galo’s shoulder, closing his eyes. The pair of them are fairly affectionate with each other under the guise of it being a “meister-weapon” thing, although literally everyone else but them knows that’s bullshit. Lio didn’t sleep well last night, so he almost wants to fall asleep like this, the wind whipping in his face, breathing in Galo’s familiar scent. If only they didn’t have work to do. Fuck school, man. 

“Then again, he only comes out at night, yeah?” Galo asks snarkily. 

“Either way, sightseeing comes afterward! First, we have to gather more information about the city,” Lio says. Seriously, he loves Galo, but he’s such a pain in the ass sometimes!

“Okay,” Galo grumbles, a big fat frown on his face.

He parks the bike near the steps of one of the many cathedrals in the city and the pair disembarks. 

“Information gathering, information gathering…” Lio murmurs to himself as he flanks Galo. Galo’s mind is somewhere else, and in his dejectedness he bumps into a man. 

“Hey, hold it, you!” The man says in a thick Italian accent, pulling Galo up by the collar of his jacket, forcing him to make eye contact. The man is probably in his 30’s, sporting a horrible neckbeard, piercings everywhere, a backwards baseball cap, and black eyeliner caked on. Galo scrunches up his face in response to being so close to the man, close enough for some angry spittle to land on his face. Close enough to tell that he hasn’t showered recently. 

“Oi! Let me down,” Galo whines. He struggles in the man’s grip. 

The man gets even angrier and clutches Galo’s coat harder. “Do you know who you’re messing with when you do that?! Eh?!” 

“Sorry man, I can’t understand you, your pronunciation sucks ass, frankly,” Galo tells him, shrugging. He wishes this guy would stop spitting in his face! Does he have any concept of personal space? 

Lio sighs, watching things unfold as more men start to gather around them. Fucking hell, this is _exactly_ what they needed this afternoon, Galo getting caught up in a pointless brawl. 

“Heh, no problem! If you don’t get it, we’ll just explain it to you!” one man says, cracking his knuckles. 

“This town is controlled by the Materazzi! Don’t you forget it!” the neckbeard man spits, throwing up a gang sign. 

“Eh, that’s nice and all, but frankly, I don’t really care! You don’t scare me. I could easily take you,” Galo says proudly. He crosses his arms and stares down the offender, ready to pick a fight, if need be. Who the hell do they think he is? He’s one of the top one-star meisters at Promepolis Academy and known widely for his athleticism and talent! These guys should be scared of _him!_

“Galo, let’s hurry up and go gather some information,” Lio sounds exasperated, pushing his way through the mob. 

“Yeah, all right.” Galo releases himself from the man’s grip fairly easily now. 

“Hey, you! What do you think you’re doing?!” Neckbeard Man yells, grabbing Galo by the back of his collar and yanking him. 

“Hah?” Galo chokes out. 

“You think you can cross the Materazzi and get away with it?!” 

“We’ll teach you to talk to us like that!” another man adds. They all look at Galo like he’s an easy target, smiles widespread and eyes menacing. 

“Let him have it,” someone sneers. 

Galo sighs at this. Man, what a bother. He just wants to get on with his lesson. But if these guys want a piece of him, he may as well give it to them. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

Galo throws some punches, reducing them to a big, pained heap in what seems like hardly a few seconds. He quickens his pace a little to catch up with Lio, who is completely unfazed by it all.

“I wonder who we could ask,” he murmurs.

“Good question. Let’s try that pizza shop on the corner!” Galo’s mouth begins to water again.

Lio sighs, rubbing at his temples. “Come on, Galo; do you _ever_ think about anything that isn’t pizza?” 

  
  


\--

The church bell tolls. 

It’s another night and the witch once again sits on her moonlit perch. _“Go on, eat. You are the form of the ultimate weapon and meister,”_ she says. She is using a telepathic connection to talk to the girl who currently serves as her puppet. 

Not far below, the girl huddles in Santo Mario Novella Bascilia, the unofficial hideout of the Materazzi gang. She has caramel skin and light pink hair that is big, poofy and unkempt. Her tattered black dress hangs off her tiny frame as she trembles in fear.

“Hey, what do you want?” a gang member questions her, as she is positioned in the middle of the church, men all around her, staring at her, sizing her up. Surely this little girl couldn’t take on all of them? 

_“Eat lots of souls,”_ the woman’s voice echoes in her mind.

“I can’t, H-Heris,” the girl murmurs, her voice wavering. “I’m not up to it yet.”

Her big, black sword gleams in the dim light of the church. One of the men’s angry faces is reflected in it. “What’s your deal?” he growls. 

“They’re not even close to Kishins,” she says. _Do these people really deserve to die? she_ wonders to herself. She already knows the answer. But she can’t tell Heris that. Heris will get mad.

The girl’s refutation is futile, though; she knows this by now. But it doesn’t stop her from trying. 

The men ignore her confusing words and continue interrogating her. They’re getting restless now, huddling closer around her, cracking their knuckles and casting threatening glares. 

“I asked you what your deal was!” a man yells. 

“Who are you talking to?!” another one adds.

_“Don’t be difficult, my dear,”_ Heris sighs, knowing what this has come to. This isn’t her first rodeo — no, far from it. What she’s going to do next isn’t anything out of the ordinary for her.

_“Nake Snake… Cobra Cob-bra…”_ She chants, black magic in the form of a snake spewing from her mouth. 

_“It’s all right, have faith in yourself,”_ she continues as her magic circles the church. _“Thyma, you will be a Kishin.”_

The magic completes its descent, disappearing into the back of Thyma’s head. All is dead silent for a second as the crowd stares. Then, suddenly, she starts laughing, as if someone just said something absolutely hysterical. 

“I am a Kishin!” she says. 

“Don’t think you can come into our castle and just walk out again, filthy brat!” someone growls, walking closer to her and giving her a shove. 

“This is a public place,” she responds, a newfound air of confidence about her. “There isn’t any place that has been given to you. Which is why Ragnarok will eat you. Right, Ragnarok?” She grins, looking to her blade for confirmation, holding it up. 

In that moment, a terrifying mouth appears on her sword and _screams._

Overcome by the deafening sound, the men cover their ears and yell expletives. “What the fuck is that sword?!”

Thyma smirks. “Listen, everyone. Has anything amusing happened?” Her eyes move about the room wildly. “The doors here open inward.” She’s making very little sense at this point, overcome by a manic state.

Still standing, she leans back in some semblance of a backbend. “Yesterday sure was fun. What was it that happened? I can’t remember. What’s more, my blood is black.” 

The screaming continues. The witch smirks. Blood seeps from the moon’s mouth. 

All is as it should be. 

\-- 

Galo’s boots thump on a roof as he runs towards his target. 

“Finally found you!” 

Before him is the man they were sent here for, wearing a brown paper bag with circles cut out for his eyes, hunched over with a knife in hand.

“Sonson J, homicidal maniac of Emerald Lake. I’ll extinguish you with my burning soul!” Galo yells, in his typical Galo fashion. 

Finally, they’re exactly where they should be. This is the part that fills Lio with adrenaline. He lives for the feeling of Galo’s calloused hands gripping his hilt, tight enough for Lio to feel the excited thrum of his pulse. If Lio closes his eyes, he can pretend that this is all there is in the world, just him and Galo, their souls tangled together, in perfect sync. 

Galo jumps and runs towards the killer, clutching the katana. Sonson, in turn, lifts his blade and runs towards them as well. 

In one decisive slash, Sonson is killed, turns into black matter, then a red orb. His soul.

As Galo lands, Lio transforms back into a human. They’ve done this song and dance many times before, so he goes ahead and grabs the soul eagerly. 

“That’s our quota for our extracurricular lesson, right?” Galo asks.

“Yes,” Lio confirms. He lifts the soul and takes the whole thing into his mouth, his fangs flashing in the moonlight. He chews a bit, swallows, and just like that, the deed is done, and they have completed their lesson. He belches loudly and brings his hand to his mouth, his cheeks dusting pink. Too late, because Galo’s already chuckling at him. 

Galo studies him a little, seemingly lost in thought. “Hey, Lio, do souls taste good?”

Lio nods. “They don’t really have any flavor, but the texture and the way they feel going down can’t be beat.” Getting used to eating souls was probably the hardest part of enlisting at the academy, but since it meant getting stronger, he’d adapted rather quickly. Galo prides himself a lot on their strength, so seeing him happy gives Lio an extra incentive. 

“Hmm! I wonder if Aina and Lucia are having any luck collecting souls,” Galo muses.

“They’re perpetual no-soul remedial-lesson fanatics, so I doubt it.”

“Poor Aina,” Galo sighs, sympathizing with his best friend. Lucia is known for being unhinged, so he imagines she’s a hard weapon to work with. As for Lio, he isn’t really scared of anyone, but he _is_ scared of Lucia. 

“So, then, should we head home?” Lio turns, yawning, ready to go fetch the motorcycle and finally get some rest after today’s excitement.

“Wait, Lio—” Galo starts. Lio looks at his meister expectantly. 

Galo narrows his eyes, then turns to look at a church a few blocks away. 

“That building… I’m sensing so many wound-up souls.” 

Galo has the ability of Soul Perception, which allows him to sense nearby souls along with their danger levels. He wasn’t even using it consciously, but it’s coming in full-force now, like alarm bells ringing in his brain. He closes his eyes, trying to concentrate and get a better idea of the situation. 

“I’m reading the souls of a weapon and meister,” he says. “And 50 or 60 human souls surrounding them.” 

“You can sense all that?” Lio asks.

“Yeah,” Galo says, quietly. Lio was expecting something a little more cocky, _“Of course I can! I’m the world’s number one meister!”_ so when he doesn’t hear it, his brows knit together in worry, knowing that what Galo is sensing seems serious. 

“I think it might be those Materazzi punks from earlier. We have to go save them!” 

Lio blinks. These are the same people that antagonized Galo not much more than a few hours ago, yet Galo is still willing to go out of his way to save them. This is just one of the many reasons he admires his partner. Always willing to help people out, even those who hurt him. 

“Okay, let’s go.” 

\-- 

Galo is uncharacteristically quiet on the ride over. 

“I have a bad feeling about this,” he finally says when they pull in front of the cathedral. The church bell tolls, giving off a foreboding aura. Lio, unable to come up with anything reassuring to say, squeezes Galo a little tighter before dismounting his motorcycle. They’d faced a lot of scary things together; they can face whatever this is, too. 

“Oh fuck,” Galo gasps, moving closer to the church. “What the _hell?”_

“W-what is it?” Lio panics a bit. 

Galo’s gaze doesn’t move from the church.

The bell stops. 

Galo holds his breath.

Silence.

“They’re all gone,” he murmurs. “The 50 or 60 souls all disappeared in one moment. Leaving just the meister and the weapon.” He clenches his fists.

_“Shit.”_

Galo takes a few steps closer and places his hand upon the door. Whoever they’re about to face really isn’t fucking around; that much is clear.

_I get the feeling that I shouldn’t open this door,_ he thinks. _But I have to see._

“Are you sure about this, Galo?” Lio asks from behind. 

Galo nods, his mouth set in determination. “Yeah. As students of Promepolis Academy, we have to see who did this.” 

“Okay.” Lio is uncertain, but he trusts his meister more than anyone, and this situation is no different. 

Lio can instinctively tell when Galo’s nervous. He steps up next to him and takes both of his hands in his own and presses their foreheads together gently, closing his eyes, and taking a second to breathe deeply. This is a ritual for them sometimes. It’s not necessary for Soul Resonance, but it helps calm both of them down before a fight. Lio goes ahead and changes into his katana form. 

The way Galo clutches his hilt a little too tightly, breathes a little too quickly is not lost on him.

Galo gives just the slightest push and the twin doors swing open, a mysterious gush of wind from inside flapping his trench coat with it. 

A girl stands at the end of the hall, near the altar, her back towards the doors. Her fluffy pink hair and her dress flow in tandem with the wind from outside. One of her arms is gripping the other, as if she’s nervous, strangely enough for someone who just wiped out at least 50 souls at once.

“You see? These doors only open inwards,” She says, now turning to face the pair. 

“She’s all alone. What happened to her partner?” Lio whispers.

“Lady Heris, two others have arrived,” a voice from seemingly nowhere says. 

“Keep it down. Ragnarok, you be quiet,” she chastises. 

“The souls I’m reading are of a meister and a weapon, and both of them are directly in front of us. In other words, there’s a weapon inside her body,” Galo says.

The girl’s forest-green eyes widen. Bingo.

\--

_“Ugh,_ I fucked up,” Gueira says, both hands in his mop of red hair. He’s sweating bullets. And talking to himself. 

“To think Galo would be on an extracurricular lesson… In order to see him, I have to come to the academy. But there is one giant obstacle here for me at this school…”

“ _Meis…"_ he grumbles, his voice full of fear. “All I want to do is see my son, but Meis is such a pain in the ass!”

“But your papa… your papa is not gonna back down!” His eyes are fiery now. “Once I get past this barrier, your papa’s love is going to grow infinitely within you, Galo!” 

Meis walks in without a knock. Gueira had been sitting in the infirmary, where Meis just started working last week. Gueira puts two and two together when he sees Meis’ lab coat, and realizes the folly of his actions. 

“The hell you doing in here?” Meis asks. 

“Ack…! You know, just the usual,” Gueira’s voice wavers a bit. He twiddles his thumbs, staring down the person he fears most, the bane of his sad existence. 

Needless to say, Meis does not know. 

“Just as well. I was looking for you, anyway,” Meis pushes the bridge of his glasses up, the light reflecting off of them. 

“REALLY?!” Gueira can’t help but exclaim in shock, then corrects himself, softly, _“Uh, I mean,_ why’s that? You’re not going to perform more experiments on me, are you?” Gueira throws him a fiery glare, barely masking his fear.

“Nah, but I _did_ swap your left and right middle toes.” 

Gueira screams, chucking his shoes off and inspecting his feet.

Meis snorts. “Just kidding.” He pulls out a cigarette and lights it, even though he’s not supposed to be smoking in here. Authority doesn’t scare him. Very little scares Meis. 

“Galo sure has grown up,” he says, exhaling the smoke languidly. He talks with his hands, using the cigarette he’s holding to accentuate his points. “You know, I was positive your marriage was gonna fail. But seeing you all snuggled up with him reassured me. What a happy couple. I’m glad to see you doing well, Gueira.” 

Gueira is avoiding eye contact like the plague. _Just kill me now,_ he thinks.

_“Actually,”_ Gueira, after a long silence, finally gets the balls to say. “You may not be aware, but we got divorced last month.” 

“Oh, I know,” Meis snorts again, taking another drag. 

Gueira punches his arm, but Meis doesn’t react. “YOU ASS! Stop picking on me!” 

“Even so, I’m glad you dated someone who made you happier than I did.” Meis sounds a bit sad at this, contradicting his own words. 

Gueira is quiet, studying him for a moment. 

“Oh, by the way,” Meis, for some reason, seems to remember the reason he sought Gueira out in the first place. “The Demon Sword showed up.” Gueira’s eyes widen.

_“What?”_

\--

“What do you mean, Galo? There’s a weapon inside that girl?” Lio asks, his voice reverberating a bit from within his blade. His reflection within the sword shows his brows scrunched up in confusion. They’ve never encountered something like this before. 

“Yeah. Get ready, she’s coming.” 

Suddenly, the girl’s face contorts and she hunches over, clutching her head. She makes pained noises, which increase in volume, finally building up into a scream. 

Galo holds his breath, his grip on the katana tightening. 

A tall, shadowy figure emerges from her back. Slowly, it takes the form of a large, muscular man, but with X’s where his eyes and nose should be. To put it lightly, he looks terrifying. 

He makes unintelligible noises, then gives his meister light punches on the head, to which she grumbles. “Thyma, I want to eat sooooouls,” he whines. He continues to pinch her nose and poke her as they swap verbal attacks. 

Galo sighs, ignoring their bickering. “You know that hunting human souls is forbidden! Are you students at Promepolis?” 

“Promepolis? What’s that? She said it was okay to eat them. What’s wrong with that?” Thyma says. She sounds genuinely confused.

“A lot!” Galo grunts. What the fuck is this girl’s deal? Who was she talking about? 

Thyma blushes and looks at the ground, suddenly bashful. “I’m not very good when it comes to talking to boys.”

“Never mind that, his soul looks tasty,” the shadowy figure from Thyma’s back adds.

“Meisters and weapons are forbidden from hunting the souls of humans, for any reason whatsoever.” Galo lifts his sword and assumes an offensive stance. “As a student of the academy, I cannot condone this!” 

“Let’s do this, Thyma,” the figure says with a poke to her head. He disappears into a dark, purplish cloud not far above her. She reaches into the cloud to grab the hilt of a sword, and the rest of the shadows come together to form a blade. 

Without warning, Thyma rushes forward. “She’s coming from below!” Lio warns, and Galo blocks the attack. The clank of metal-on-metal resounds through the empty church. 

Galo growls at the underhanded attempt and punches her in the face. Thyma is taken aback, giving Galo time to pin her down, holding his blade to her throat. 

“You can’t cut me with a stroke like that,” she says simply, seeming unaffected. Thick, tar-like blood begins to seep from her throat. “I have black blood, you know.” 

This alarms Galo, and he leaps backwards. 

“What’s up with her body?” Lio asks.

“I think her blood is her weapon,” Galo says. “That’s why I was able to cut through the skin, but her blood hardened and stopped the blade at her blood vessels.” 

Lio growls. “Then how the hell do we damage her?” 

“I don’t know. The odds are stacked against us just swinging at her, and I don’t know if Inferno would even work. If only I could shoot soul wavelength attacks like Aina, I could actually do some internal damage.” Galo sighs. Damn his luck, of course Aina wouldn’t be on a mission when they actually need her. 

_“Tsk tsk,”_ Heris says to Thyma telepathically. _“Why are you holding back on them?”_

“W-well, I don’t really know how to act around b-boys,” she stutters. Her face reddens, and she buries it in her hands. 

_“Silly girl. You should kill them.”_

“Oh, I can kill them, can I?” Thyma’s disposition does a full 180, and she suddenly gets a crazed look in her eyes. “I didn’t realize that.”

“Who are you talking to?!” Galo yells. 

Thyma disregards him. “Ragnarok…” Thyma lifts her sword and positions it in front of her face. _”Scream Resonance.”_

“ _Goobee_ , _"_ a mouth on the sword says playfully, and emits an ear splitting screech. Galo and Lio wince. 

A purplish attack is fired at the two of them. Galo blocks, and Lio grunts in pain as the attack hits his blade. Thyma jumps and swings her sword down at them, and Galo narrowly dodges.

“GALO, HE’S COMING! GUARD!” Lio yells. 

Thyma’s sword hits Galo’s, hard. The pressure from the sword combined with its continued screaming cuts into the katana, and blood gushes from the wound. 

“LIO!” Galo yells. He manages to kick Thyma out of the way. “YOU BITCH!” 

“You okay, Lio?” Galo tries to catch his breath, his eyebrows pulled together in concern.

Blood is still dripping and Lio’s reflection in the blade looks worse for wear. “Don’t worry about that. I’m prepared to die for my meister!”

Lio’s selflessness makes Galo want to break down and cry. He’d really rather be anywhere than here right now. He’d rather be curled up on the couch of their shared apartment, watching some shitty romcom Lio picked out, both of them safe and _alive._ He’d rather hug Lio tight and tell him how glad he is to have him as a weapon, because he means _so_ much to him, and situations like this make him never want to take him for granted again. 

Yet. Here they are, fighting for their lives, when they could have just avoided this place. When it was Galo’s idea to come here. By all means, Thyma _needs_ to be stopped. It’s the right thing to do. But still, Galo can’t help but be flooded by a wave of guilt. He’s not religious, but he’s really scared, so he prays to whatever god is up there that the two of them make it out of this alive. 

_I’ll protect you, Lio_ , he thinks, even though he’s not sure he even can deliver on that promise.

While there is still some distance between him and Thyma, he tries to think of how the hell he’s going to get himself out of this one. He can’t guard, nor can he do any damage. 

Swinging her blade around, Thyma lunges at them, and Galo dodges, knocking her to the ground with a swing. 

There’s sweat pooling on his forehead as he stares down his opponent. 

_I fucked up._

Thyma rushes forward again, jabbing at Galo several times. He swiftly dodges each one, but is pushed back towards the wall in the process.

“Galo!” Lio yells. “The hell are you doing?! You need to guard!” 

But he can’t. He knows what will happen if he does. There’s no way he’s letting Lio die. Galo would rather die himself before he resorted to that. 

And yet. He’s exhausted all his options. The only solution left is to run away. 

Galo’s back slams against the doors. “Oh! The exit!” He slams against it again a few times, but the doors won’t budge. “The fuck?” 

Thyma lifts her blade high. “That’s no good, is it? You’d better pay attention next time. These doors only open inward, remember?” 

_Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck._

Galo’s eyes widen as he realizes the situation he’s fucked himself into. Tears well up in his eyes. 

Thyma begins to swing. 

  
“GALO, GUARD!” Lio yells. 

“I CAN’T!” 

The sword makes contact. 

Before Galo can react, Lio transforms back into his human form, arms outstretched, shielding Galo. Time seems to crawl to a standstill. He sees the sword slice the whole length of Lio’s torso, sees the blood spurt, feels the tears roll down his face. 

The air is thick with the stench of blood. It nearly chokes Galo. He can hardly breathe. He can hardly think. He wonders if his heart is even still beating. 

He finally reacts just in time to catch Lio before he hits the ground. 

_**“LIOOOOOOO!”** _he screams. 

  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Galo holds his partner tenderly, and Meis kicks some serious ass.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! chapter two is already out! i think this chapter turned out rly well if i do say so myself! hope u enjoy it !!

Galo had seen some horrifying things since becoming a meister.

He had seen countless people die, innocent and evil alike. Hell, there were times when he thought he was going to bite the dust himself. Numerous people have held knives to his throat and guns to his head. He had been in chokeholds, gasping for air and kicking, damn near suffocating. He had gone on missions where the odds were stacked against him, missions he never thought he would return from. Regardless, Galo always found a way to get himself out of tight situations. 

He can’t say the same for the one he’s in right now. 

He’d rather face anything else but this. He can handle the bruises and scrapes from being tossed around by some maniac he’d been sent to kill. He can handle the broken limbs, the nosebleeds, the countless scars he’d earned through doing his job. He can even handle a week in the hospital, although the inactivity drives him absolutely crazy. He can handle practically any type of danger thrown his way, because he’d done it before and came out the other side victorious, with a smile to boot. And he would do it again and again. 

He can handle all the physical pain in the world, but seeing his sweet, loyal partner bleeding out on the floor, is something Galo Thymos _cannot_ handle. 

“Lio, stay with me,” he chokes. “Don’t you fucking disappear on me.” 

He sniffles, and with shaking hands removes Lio’s now-tattered jacket and applies pressure to the wound to try to slow the bleeding, but it seems like the blood just keeps coming. It looks even worse against Lio’s white shirt. 

_Breathe, Thymos,_ he tells himself. _If you fall apart now, neither of you will survive this._

He can feel a panic attack coming on, but breathes through it, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Square breathing, he tells himself — inhale four, hold four, exhale four, hold four. Just like Dr. Meis taught him. He’s lucky the curriculum at the academy includes how to emotionally handle stressful situations, because otherwise he’d be as good as dead right now. Stick a fork in one Galo Thymos, roasted to perfection, medium-rare, served fresh with a large helping of emotional trauma from watching his partner suffer a mortal wound. 

Thyma closes in, preparing an attack. Galo braces himself, clutching Lio to his chest.

In what he assumes are his last moments, he quickly tries to wrack his brain for a possible way he can get himself out of this. He’s an idiot as it is, but he’d have to be the world’s _number one_ idiot to try and fight Thyma without a weapon. Again, the only logical solution is to run away. Why on earth won’t these goddamn doors open?! 

As if on cue, someone kicks the fucking door down and punches Thyma so damn hard she flies across the room. The timing would be comical if only the circumstances weren’t so dire.

Galo breathes a sigh of relief when he sees that it’s Meis. He has his hair pulled back into a loose ponytail so that he can actually see out of his right eye. A cigarette hangs from his lip as his tired blue eyes take in the mess before him. He holds Gueira’s scythe form, who in that tone-deaf way of his, yells “Your dad is here!” upon seeing his son. Galo puts his head in his hands. _Read the fucking room for once, Dad,_ he thinks. _This is actually serious._

“Doing okay, bud?” Meis calmly asks Galo. It’s a rhetorical question — one look at the situation and Meis already knows the answer, so he doesn’t expect a response. Galo appreciates his casual demeanor because it’s the only thing that makes him feel normal right now. Meis is the strange but chill uncle Galo never had, so seeing him here is a relief. As for his perpetually high-strung dad... Not so much, but he’s a Death Scythe, one of the most powerful weapons around, so at least _that_ part is reassuring. 

Meis shrugs off his lab coat and tosses it to Galo. “Put this over him so he doesn’t lose body heat.” He brandishes the scythe with all the skill of a seasoned meister. “I’ll take care of this,” he says, still totally collected, as he moves towards Thyma, who picks herself up off the ground and shoots him a glare, wiping away obsidian blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. 

Galo nods, draping the coat over his weapon. He gently shifts Lio’s head into his lap to provide some additional warmth. 

Lio’s eyelids flutter open. “Galo?” he says hoarsely.

“Yeah, Lio, I’m right here. It’s me. I’ve got you,” he says, gripping his partner’s hand and squeezing it. Lio gives a weak squeeze back. Galo strokes his soft, blood-caked hair gently, his hand trembling as he does so. “You’re okay, Meis and my dad are here; we’re gonna get out of here. You’ll be okay, I promise.” Galo says, his lip quivering. There he goes again, making promises he can’t keep, but he _has_ to act like Lio will be okay to prevent himself from losing his mind. 

Lio smiles weakly. “I love you, Galo.”

“I love you, too, Lio,” Galo’s voice is brittle, and before he can hold back, hot tears run down his face and plop miserably onto Lio’s cheek. He swiftly wipes them away, caressing his weapon’s face, trying to offer some semblance of comfort that the two of them need so badly. So much for appearing strong. 

Lio slips out of consciousness again, but not before giving Galo’s hand another squeeze. 

Platonic “I love you’s” were not uncommon for the pair. (Galo can’t quite remember; maybe it slipped out one day and felt too natural, too right. Friends say I love you, yeah?) Hearing the words now, however, nearly breaks Galo. The fact that he could lose him settles in his chest like a heavy weight. They’ve been close for so long that he has no idea who he was without him. Lio’s soul wavelength is the only one Galo can resonate with. They’re two matching pieces of a puzzle, still pretty on their own, but lost and incomplete without each other. 

Even worse, if Lio dies, it’ll be Galo’s fault for not protecting him, and that’s a weight he’ll carry for the rest of his life. He could never forgive himself. 

Galo redirects his attention to the fight currently going on, gripping Lio’s hand like a lifeline, feeling the tiniest bit reassured by the continued thrum of his soul — weak, but still with him, always with him. 

\--

Meis wasn’t happy to see Lio in such rough shape, to put it lightly. 

After Lord Deus gave them the rundown on the Demon Sword’s presence, they took his portal to Italy, and with the help of Meis’ Soul Perception, hauled ass to the church. Meis still internally curses himself for not making it in time to protect the kid, and he knows Galo well enough to know that he’s struggling really badly seeing his weapon in such pain. Meis sees a lot of himself in Galo; the way he looks at Lio isn’t that different from the way he looked at Gueira when they were partners: two people willing to give up anything for each other. It’s not uncommon for students at the academy, but unfortunate when things go wrong like this. 

Well, they’re here now, so it’s time to bop. For good luck, he takes one last drag from his cigarette, long and deep, before sloppily dropping it on the ground and putting it out with his foot with a satisfying crunch, taking out a bit of his stress. To be honest, he’s a bit intimidated while staring down his opponent — she’s one step away from becoming a Kishin, as Deus told him — but he and Gueira are strong together, so he has no doubt that they’ll be fine.

“You think you can handle the Demon Sword, Gueira?” he asks his scythe.

Gueira scoffs, his reflection looking smug. “Of course I can! Who do you think I am?”

Meis smiles. “That’s the spirit. God, when was the last time we fought together like this? We were probably still dating, huh?” He reminisces on them in their 20’s without much to think about aside from each other. They spent many late nights hunting pre-Kishins, then patching each other’s wounds up at their apartment between fervent kisses. 

“Yeah, man, probably. Those were the days,” Gueira says, a bit wistful. 

“Thyma, eat his soul!” the girl’s weapon whines, pinching her and pulling at her face. “I’m hungry!”  
  


Meis is still smiling a bit when Thyma sprints at them, but he’s ready, deflecting her with ease, knocking her back with the scythe. While she’s still winded, Meis takes his hand, charged with electricity, and shoots his soul wavelength at her directly, an attack called Soul Force. Thyma is stunned, choking out more dark blood. 

“Fuck yeah!” Gueira says. Galo looks on from behind, his eyes twinkling with admiration. 

“Wait,” Meis says sternly. He notices there are droplets of the black blood suspended in the air. Something’s wrong.

“Ragnarok, now,” Thyma hisses.

The blood suddenly changes forms, hardening, becoming needles, then descending upon Meis. He narrowly dodges. 

“Bitch thinks she’s got tricks,” Meis grumbles. “I’ve got them too, honey.” 

He runs towards Thyma. The blood, still floating in the air, tries to skewer him as he passes by, but Meis is fast and ducks underneath the spikes. He swings the scythe at her, which hits her sword with a clank. Using the scythe to guard himself — Gueira currently serves as his trusty shield, since normal attacks don’t work on Thyma — he swings at her, but it’s hard to stay coordinated with Ragnarock’s continued sceaming making his head pound. They’re locked in a stalemate for a bit, their weapons clanking against each other, neither landing hits on the other, until Meis finally finds an opening and his fist hits her stomach with another wavelength attack, sending her rolling across the room, all the way outside. She lands on the cobblestone pavement with a groan and a splatter of murky blood.

Meis jumps to pursue her, skin slick with sweat and heart pounding with adrenaline. Thyma looks _rough,_ her eyes wide and spaced out, breathing heavily, but Ragnarok is peeking outside of her body, making more strange noises, looking smug. “Prepare to die!” he says playfully. 

_The fuck is he on about? He can’t do anything without her command, right?_ Meis thinks, but quickly realizes it’s he who controls the droplets, because one comes flying out from inside, penetrating Meis’ glasses and stabbing him just above the eye. 

Meis grunts, stumbling. The shattered glasses fall to the ground along with drops of Meis’ own blood, bright red in contrast to the dark blood that surrounds his form. _Damn, if that attack was any lower, I would’ve lost my eye,_ he thinks to himself. The blood drips in a steady stream, drops collecting on his shirt and on Gueira’s blade. Yeah, he’s definitely fed up with this. 

“Meis! Are you okay?” Gueira asks, his reflection looking concerned.

“Yeah,” Meis grunts. “M’fine.” _I gotta end this soon,_ he thinks. _Else Lio might not make it._ He notices that Galo’s sitting at the door, watching the fight tensely, his eyes wide. Meis has to do this for him, because he knows watching his partner fade away is eating him up. 

Droplets surround him, preparing to descend. 

“Gueira, you ready?” Meis asks.

“Yeah!”

Meis quickly spins the scythe around himself with practiced ease, jamming the shaft at the ground while still holding it upright. The stricken area then glows and creates a large barrier the that protects the two of them from the needles. 

_I just need to get in one more hit,_ Meis thinks. _One more and she’s done._ He sets Gueira down for a minute. Once the needles disperse, Meis easily attacks Thyma in her weakened state, hitting her with Soul Force again, using both palms this time for maximum power. Once again, the intensity of the attack sends her rolling across the ground, more inky blood splattering with her.

This time, she lies there unconscious.

“It’s over,” Meis says solemnly, clutching the scythe again, lifting it in preparation. “I hate to do this since she’s just a kid, but it must be done.” He readies a finishing attack, but before he can hit her, something else catches his attention.

He looks towards the sky and narrows his eyes. He senses a soul, and not just any soul. No, he recognizes what this is. A witch with the power of Soul Protect — a spell that allows her to go undetected by Soul Perception — has just made herself known. 

“Are you sensing that, too?” Galo asks from behind, voice shaking. Poor kid.

“Yeah,” Meis grunts. “It’s a witch. She’s probably affiliated with Thyma.” _Damn this bitch, I thought I was nearly done here,_ he thinks.

She apparates in the sky not too far above them, sitting on her broomstick, looking down on them ominously. The foreboding purple aura around her confirms her identity as a witch.

“It would seem my experiment failed,” her voice projects, and Meis realizes she’s talking about Thyma. “Well, that’s too bad, but I’ll give you a little something before you go.” 

She’s readying an attack, moving her arms in a ritualistic way, black arrows starting to form around her. Suddenly, her arms drop, and with them, the arrows do as well. 

Meis, as always, is ready, spinning the scythe above him.

“Soul Resonance!” he and Gueira say, in sync. 

With that, the scythe begins to glow, and Meis swings it at the arrows, which then disintegrate into the air. He sends a glare towards the witch, trying to convey the fact that he and Gueira aren’t fucking around by any stretch of the imagination.

She seems to get the message, because she sends magic in the form of a snake to fetch Thyma’s unconscious body and lift it towards her like a precious jewel. With a closed mouth and a smile, she laughs maliciously. 

“I was just here on an errand, but I didn’t realize I would run into Promepolis’s most powerful meister as well as a Death Scythe. I’d love to stay, but sadly I have things to attend to,” she says snarkily, and with that, she vanishes into thin air. 

“BITCH! Come back here!” Gueira shouts, peeking out of his blade. 

“Gueira, it’s fine, really,” Meis sighs. He casts a glance towards Galo and Lio. “We need to be getting back.” A cold breeze runs through Meis’ hair, and the sudden post-battle silence feels deafening. The atmosphere is so thick you could slice it with a butter knife; the moon above continues to smile wickedly, indifferent to the cruel world below him. 

Gueira transforms into human form, and the two of them walk back inside. Galo is sitting hunched over, staring at his hands intensely, holding back tears. Meis’ heart pangs for what he’s going through. Seeing your weapon hurt has to be one of the worst parts of being a meister.

Gueira kneels down and places a hand on Galo’s arm, squeezing it a bit. Galo looks at him, his ocean blue eyes puffy and rimmed red from crying so much. Without a word, Gueira pulls him into a hug, which Galo readily accepts, sobbing a bit into his dad’s shoulder. Meis watches them and feels glad his old flame turned out to be such a good father. 

He goes to pick up Lio, still wrapped up in his large lab coat, which is stained with blood now. There’s still a dull ache coming from the cut above Meis’ eye, and he’s thoroughly exhausted, both mentally and physically. Looking at his ragtag group, he knows he’s not the only one. 

“Let’s go home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading!!!. ch 3 will prob be the last one unless something changes ! also, follow me on twitter @mahariiyuware if u want :) i do art too


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lio is his weapon, his katana, his partner — these things are evident. But what nobody realizes is that he’s Galo’s whole world; the threat of living without him opened his eyes to this fact.

When Lio regains awareness, he’s encased in darkness.

He feels chilled to the bone, immediately aware that he’s bleeding, but the crimson stream is flowing upwards slowly, suspended as if it’s in zero gravity. His chest feels like it’s being stabbed by a thousand knives and breathing feels like an onerous task. Which way is down and which way is up? Is he even alive? Is this death? He remembers being somewhere close to it when he was last conscious. If this really is the afterlife, he wants a fucking refund. He didn’t live his whole life just to end up somewhere shitty like this. 

“Hello?” he asks the void, but it doesn’t answer. 

Well, this sucks. There’s no flames or devil, so this doesn’t quite seem like hell  — purgatory maybe? He didn’t pay enough attention in Sunday school to remember what purgatory is supposed to be like or what he’s supposed to do to have a shot at getting into heaven. It’s sad; one would  _ really think _ self-sacrifice would be enough to get into heaven. Oh well. At this point, Lio just wants to know that Galo is safe and that his death wasn’t in vain. Only then can he rest easy.

He finally sees a light shining above him, so bright he has to squint. Is that heaven? A way out? Is he supposed to go to it or is this supposed to be some spiritual test? Like Adam and Eve weren’t supposed to eat the apple? Again, his lack of biblical knowledge fails him. He has nothing to lose at this point, so might as well pursue it.

“Help! No, Lio, don’t!” a voice yells.

Lio’s body jolts. That’s Galo’s voice! Lio hauls ass towards the light, and at some point he crosses a threshold into blinding light and excruciating pain. He sees Galo’s face looking down at him, eyes wide with horror, then realizes he’s emerging from Galo’s waist; they’re stuck together, two torsos in one body. His vision goes black. 

Lio screams at the top of his lungs. He’s somewhere else now. Sweat pools on his forehead and he finds it hard to breathe. Everything is hazy; he can’t really put together where he is or what’s happening but he can hear a rapid beeping as well as people talking. He recognizes this room as the school infirmary  — so he must  _ not _ be dead, and what he saw before must have just been a dream. Right? 

“Meis! Something’s wrong with Lio!” He hears a distressed voice. Galo?

He’s suddenly aware that Galo is beside him, clutching his hand in both of his. Lio squeezes back, and the action grounds him the slightest bit. The way his chest is heaving certainly doesn’t help the wound he sustained in that area  — the sharp pain tells him as much, and he’s become acutely aware of the wires coming out of his chest and the IV in his arm and has to resist the urge to rip them all out. Every bone in his body is screaming at him to hide, to run away. He tries desperately to control his breathing, but his vision is swimming, his throat is closing up and he thinks he might  _ really  _ be dying now. 

“What’s wrong, Lio?” He’s suddenly aware of Meis’ concerned voice.

“Nightmare,” he’s able to choke out. Galo and Meis seem to collectively let out a sigh of relief. Lio wishes he could share in it, but it seems all he can think about is Galo’s horrified, pained face staring down at him. 

“Well, I’m glad it’s not something worse. Let me know if you need anything, okay?” Meis directs the question to Galo, who seems to be Lio’s unofficial caretaker now. He nods in response, and Meis promptly disappears between a white curtain. 

Galo turns back to his weapon. “Lio,” he says, his voice thick with concern. “It’s okay, you’re safe. We both are.” 

Lio nods weakly. He’s trying to pull himself together, but traitorous tears fall from his eyes. He tries breathing through his nose, but it just makes him feel like he’s going to choke, and he coughs. Dammit, why can’t he just  _ calm down? _

“Can I lie down with you?” Galo asks softly, and Lio nods vigorously, grateful that Galo always seems to know what he needs when he’s sad. 

Galo chucks his shoes off and climbs into the bed. He lies on his side and wraps his arms around his partner gently, careful of the wound. “Let me know if I hurt you, okay?”

“M’kay,” Lio sobs. 

Galo rubs circles in his back. “It’s okay, Lio. You’re here with me. I’ve got you. We’re safe. Everyone is safe,” he whispers. “We’re at the infirmary. You had surgery, but you’re gonna be just fine; I promise.” Lio sobs quietly into his partner’s chest. 

Eventually Lio’s breathing slows and he finds that he’s cried himself out, at least for the most part. The beeping from the heart monitor at his bedside falls into a slow, steady rhythm as opposed to its fast, erratic one from earlier. For the first time in the last 24 hours, Lio finally feels like he can breathe  — it’s just him and Galo here. They’re safe and warm under the covers and nobody can hurt them now. Lio is half asleep when he hears Galo’s comforting voice. 

“Good?” 

“Mmhmm,” Lio hums. “Thank you, Galo.” 

“Of course.” 

He looks up at Galo and realizes that moisture is welling up in his eyes. “Galo, are  _ you _ crying?” he asks quietly. 

“No,” Galo sniffles. 

Lio is literally watching the tears wet the pillow now. If he was in the position to cross his arms, he would, but instead he just casts a knowling glare at his partner.  _ “Galo.” _

“I know,” Galo sighs. “I’m just…” he breathes in sharply. “I was so worried I would lose you. I don’t know what I would do without you.” 

Lio studies him thoughtfully. “But you didn’t.” He intertwines their fingers together, squeezing them tight. “I’d never leave you, Galo.”

“But you almost did!” Galo sobs. “And it was my fault!”

“Galo Thymos. That was  _ not _ your fault.  _ I _ did that. I wanted to protect you, okay? Because that’s what weapons do for their meisters,” Lio is careful to keep his tone gentle, yet firm and resolute.

“Bullshit,” Galo chokes. Beneath the sorrow, there’s the tiniest hint of anger in his eyes. “Lio, you do realize how much you fucking mean to me, right? We’ve been partners for  _ three years  _ and have lived together ever since. I talk to you first thing in the morning and last thing at night. We’ve been through so much together. Who would I partner with if you were gone? Nobody could ever replace you.” He sniffles again. “You  _ know _ I lost my real parents, I can’t  _ stand _ to lose you too. You mean everything to me.” 

Lio feels tears well up in his own eyes again. He tries to hold them in, but fails. He feels guilty for acting like his life is an expendable resource, and seeing Galo cry over this just makes him cry too. “I’m so sorry, Galo. I’ll be more careful. I promise,” he whispers. Lio scoots closer to Galo, tucking his head under his partner’s chin where it fits perfectly, like that spot was designed for him and him alone. He realizes there isn’t much he can do in the moment to make him stop crying, no magic words he can just say, so he just decides to exist there with him. One of his legs finds its way in between Galo’s as he inches closer. Lio usually runs cold, so being so close to Galo provides a comforting warmth, and his eyes drift shut, but he stays conscious. Eventually, Galo’s sobbing and trembling subsides and his breathing slows, and Lio slowly realizes his partner has fallen asleep like this. 

With that realization in mind, Lio decides to let sleep overcome him as well. He’s wrapped up in the familiar arms of his meister, basking in his hypnotizing warmth and being soothed by the sound of his slow breathing and the occasional snore. The residual pain from his chest doesn’t feel so bad when he’s like this, totally safe and protected and free of worries. They sleep well, like two people who have just cried their eyes out would. 

And if Meis walks in on the two of them wrapped up like this, well… they’ll cross that bridge when they get there.

—

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that Galo’s been wrapped around Lio’s finger since he was able to come home.

Galo realizes this: He has one Lio in his life, and only one. Nobody on this planet would be able to replace Lio Fotia. He realized that when Lio had a brush with death. So now he ensures that he does things differently. He hugs him a little tighter, cooks and cleans more often, talks to him more affectionately. When Lio wakes up in the middle of the night from a nightmare, screaming and caked in sweat, Galo gets up and talks to him, holds him until his crying stops, strokes his hair and rubs his back until he falls asleep. 

Lio is his weapon, his katana, his partner  — these things are evident. But what nobody realizes is that he’s Galo’s whole world; the threat of living without him opened his eyes to this fact.

“What the fuck is up with you lately, Galo?” Lio asks one afternoon, his tone gentle despite the apparent harshness of his words. They’re both sitting on the couch after a tiring day of school. Galo has his head in his weapon’s lap as his small hands idly run through his meister’s curls, detangling gently as he goes. 

“What do you mean?” Galo’s stomach drops and his eyebrows draw together in concern as he looks up at Lio. 

“I dunno. You’ve just been acting differently lately. Like, ever since I came home.” Again, Lio doesn’t sound angry in any way, just neutral. 

Galo sits up as he turns to face his partner. Is it hot in here? Because he’s certainly feeling a bit sweaty. He inhales sharply through his nose and takes Lio’s hands in his own, hoping he doesn’t notice how clammy they are as he makes intent eye contact. 

“Lio, ever since you got hurt, I’ve just been thinking about us a lot. About how much you mean to me. At first I blamed myself for not protecting you, but I think I’m coming to terms with it.”

Galo reaches forward and places his hand on Lio’s chest where the scar lies. “I’m going to use this scar to motivate me. To become stronger, for you,” he says quietly. Lio’s expression is neutral and hard to read, but Galo thinks he sees a hint of sadness or concern. Despite his poker face, he can feel how fast his weapon’s heart is racing.

After a second, Lio takes Galo’s outstretched hand in his and does something that knocks the wind out of Galo. He leans over and presses a kiss to his knuckles, then looks Galo in the eyes, no hint of remorse in his actions — just attractive, unshaken confidence. 

Galo’s face goes red. If he was a computer, his operating system would’ve just crashed. He continues to watch Lio, who is steadily holding eye contact, and he thinks he sees a hint of pink dust his weapon’s own cheeks.

Slowly, he inches closer to his meister, and places a hand on his face, caressing it. Galo doesn’t know what’s going on, but he knows that his heart is beating a mile a minute, but in that good way, like it does when he’s winning a battle or when he resonates with Lio. He leans into Lio’s touch ever so slightly, and that’s all the confirmation his partner needs to move closer, running his other arm through his hair, looking at him with half-lidded fuschia eyes. Damn those beautiful eyes. Galo’s own eyes are wide, but sparkling looking at the beautiful boy so close to him.

“Can I kiss you?” Lio whispers, his eyes focused on his meister’s lips. 

“Yeah,” Galo whispers back breathlessly, before he can think better of it. 

Lio slowly, gently presses his soft lips on Galo’s rougher ones. Time slows for Galo, and all that matters in this moment is this sensation — all that matters is Lio, Lio, Lio. The kiss makes him feel so many things that he can’t put a name to, but they’re all good, and he thinks this might be what doing drugs feels like. 

Galo can’t even discern how much time had passed when Lio pulls away; he felt like he just took a trip to outer space. A small smile graces Lio’s lips.

“I really like you, Galo,” he tells him with confidence.

“Like that?” Galo asks hopefully. 

“Like that,” Lio confirms, snorting at him.

“Cool! Me too.” Galo wants to jump for joy, but he has a really attractive boy in his lap currently, so now’s not exactly the right time. “C-can we kiss more now?” His voice stumbles on the question. Damn his anxiety. 

Lio doesn’t respond verbally, just with another kiss, more aggressive this time. He pushes Galo, who lands softly on the couch so he can crawl to lie on top of him while they kiss. One of Lio’s small, smooth hands winds up in Galo’s hair again. Galo’s own hand comes to rest on the small of Lio’s back, and oh my God, this is really happening, his really hot weapon is kissing him! Galo’s cheeks are still flushed, but somehow this is everything he’s ever wanted, and he feels like he’s ascending. 

Once they both run out of breath, Lio tucks his head under Galo’s chin, and Galo loves it. One hand grips his partner’s shoulder, and it feels so domestic, so right. 

“I love you, Galo,” Lio hums, and presses a kiss to his neck.

“I love you too, Lio,” Galo replies contently. The new meaning of the words settles in his chest happily. 

“Wanna date?” Lio’s hand comes to grip Galo’s. They’ve held hands a million times already, but there’s no other hand in the world Galo wants to hold. 

“Yeah, I think that’d be cool.” Galo smiles and his eyes droop shut, trying to take in all the wonderful thoughts and feelings of this moment. 

Somehow, they fall asleep like that on their couch, and when Galo wakes up a few hours later, it’s dark out, and he feels all out of sorts. However, once he looks at Lio’s sleeping form sprawled out on his chest, he remembers everything, and his heart sings. 

He carries his tired lump of a partner (boyfriend now?) to bed, tucks him in and kisses his forehead. Lio stirs slightly. “Mmm,” he hums sleepily. “Love you.” 

“Love you too,” Galo replies, and when he falls asleep that night, he’s not worried about losing his weapon, just focused on how good it feels to hold him in his arms.

Yeah, he thinks he can get used to this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for sticking with me!! hope you enjoy my lil au. i could NOT have done this without the help of my beta reader @mirrorkirby (on ao3 and twitter). they're so wonderful and you Need to read their galolio fic. comments on this are highly appreciated, as this is my first fic of this length and im curious as to what people think! i think that's about all for me, and again follow me on twitter @mahariiyuware for more of my bullshittery.


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